Inside window-blind



J. AULD.

INSIDE WINDOW BLIND.

(No Model.)

Patented Dec; 28,1886.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPHJAULD, E BURLINGTON, VERMONT.

mm; WINDOW-BLIND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,045, dated December 28, 1886.

Application filed February 16, 185d. Serial No. 192.1%. (No model) 4 To all 1071,0722 it mayconcern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH AULD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Burlington, in the county 0t Chittcnden and State of Vermont, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Inside Window-Blinds, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in Venetian blinds, wherein the slats are respect ively connected with and supported from ,a top bar by means of flexible tapes. or bands, the blind being raised from the bottom or lowered from the topby operating-cords; and the objects of my improvements are,-'first, to so suspend'the upper or supporting bar that the surfaces of the respective slats may be'readily made to assume either a horizontal or a diagonal position without interfering .with the suspending device; second, to guide the vertical. movement of the bar and slats and prevent any lateral or swinging motion by means of vertical strips or tongues, which are attached to and project 'from the side jambs of the casing, and are designed to enter suitably-formed corresponding recesses or slots in the ends of the bar and the several slats; and, third, to so arrange the position of 0 .the operating cords and weights that they can be wholly concealed from observation and conveniently operated from the front face of the jambs, thus leaving the window-sight entirely clear and unobstructed when the blinds are 3 5 lowered from the top, and also enable the operating-cords of the blind to be easily adapted to the narrowest window-jamb. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which similar let: o ters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In' the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section. Fig. 2 is avertieal cross-section taken through the center of the 5 frame. Fig. 3 shows a modification.v of the slats. Figs t, 5, 6, aredetail views.'

A is the window-frame; B, the lintel; C, the window-sill D D, thesidejambs; E E, the several slats, and. E the top or supporting bar. 5c The slats E E are horizontally suspended, be-

ing flexibly connected by tapes on both sides of the blind, which are connected together to allow for the firm attachment to it of the hanging-hooks b b. The lower cnd'of these hooks is pivoted orhinged at c c to the under face of the bar F. forward from the hinges c a sufficiently farto They are made to extend allow the 'under face of the bar to rest easily upon them when it is in a plane parallel with that of the window-sill G; thence they are made to curve upward and backward in the form of an arc of sufiicient size to avoid their interfer ing with the front edge of the bar F when itis tilted upward as far as the recesses d d will permit.) The upper ends of these hooks b b are curved toward their respective jambs, so that the eyes e c in their extremities, to which the suspension-cords (t a are attached, may be concealed from sight behind the projecting guide-strip G. The width of the recesses d d in the ends of the bar F and slats E E is sulficient toallo-w the bar and slats to be tilted upward or downward, for the pn rpose of more. or less excluding the. passage -of the light through the blind. 1

In order that the slats and bar may lie practically flat against the sides of the guide-strips G G the sides of their end recesses, d d, are tapered. nearly to an edge, as shown in Fig. 4;

The bottomslat is made somewhat thicker than the others, in order that it may afford a more substantial support to the slats which a rest upon it as the'blind is raised from the bottom.

To operate the blind, theeords a a are respectively attached to the eyes e e of the hanging-hooks b b, by which the blind is suspended. One of them, a, is made to run across the window-frame in a space in the top of the blind-frame, where it meets the other cord, a,

' and thence both pass together down within a suitably-recessed strip, S,which is designed to be of ornamental finish- Therecess within this strip is intended to receive the metallic weight H, which slides within it against the face of the j amb. .This counterbalance-weight is preferablymade flat and of su-flicient size to counterbalance the weight of the blind to which it is connected by the cords a a. It is provided with friction bearing-springs h,whichare arranged to press against the corresponding sides of the weight-recess to regulate and control the vertical movement of the weight, whatever the position of the blind may be.

Through the face of the recessed strip is a rectangular groove cut lengthwise of the strip to allow for the projection through it of the handle or knob J, which is rigidly attached to the weight H, for the purpose ofsliding the weight vertically, if so desired, and thereby lower or raise the top of the blind..

The cords m m, by means of which the blind is raised from the bottom, are connected with their respective ends 'of the bottom slat and are made to run past the ends of the several slats E E and the bar F, one on each side, either behind the strips G G or in grooves in the side frames adjacent thereto, and thence one of the cords, m, passes across the windowframe inthe space occupied by the cords a a, where it meets the cord m,=and thence both cords pass down together in a similar recessed and grooved strip on the front face of the other window jamb to a similar spring bearing weight, H, to which they are connected, and which isoperated by ahandle, J, similar to the one on the other side of the window, al ready described.

It is apparent that, if preferred and the interior faces of the jambs are of suflicient width, the recessed and grooved weight-strips may be secured to the inside face of the jambs, in which event the handles JJ may be arranged to project througha groove cut in the face of the recessed strip or through a groove in the front edge of the weight-strips, so that they may be operated on the interior or front-faces I of thejamb, as is most convenient.

It is also obvious that, without affecting the spirit of my invention, the side jambs of the window-casing may be so arranged as to allow the counterbalance-weights to slide vertically within them, suitable grooves being made through either of their faces for the passage of the operating-handles, instead of attaching weight-strips to the faces of the j ambs, as above described.

, By this simple arrangement of operating-- cords, counterbalance-weights, and handles the blind can be made to cover any portion of the window desired; and the slats tilted to any angle. None of .the operating-cords are visible, and all lateral motion of the blind 'is effectually prevented by the side guide-strips,

G G, which do not interfere with the practically'tight closing of the blind, by reason of the sides of the end recesses, d d, being so tapered as to enable the projecting extremities of the slats and bar to lie flat against the projecting sides of the guide-strips.

Should it be preferred to have the operating-cords a a visible, the upper portion of the hooks b-b, in which the eyes e e are placed and to which these cords are connected, may be left straight instead of being bent at right angles in the direction and back of their respective guide-strips G G, where otherwise the cords would be concealed, as such an arrangement would in no way change the projecting arched form of the hooks or the mode of their operation.

In Fig. 1 one of the hooks is -shown straight and the other one bent, so as to illustrate both constructions described.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1 In a slat window-blind, the combination of the top bar; F, with the bent hooks b,- which are loosely-connected at their lower ends to the under side of the bar, and the operating cords which are connected to the upper ends of the hooks, substantially as shown.

2. The combination of the top bar, F, and

slats E, having recesses with beveled edges in their ends, with the side strips, G, arranged in opposite sides of the frame, substantially as set forth.

3. In a slat window-blind, the slats E, in

combination with the top bar, F, the cords a a, attached to the top bar, F, by means of the hanging bent hooks b b, which are connected to the cords at their upper ends and pivoted at their lower ends to the under side of the top bar, and the counter-weight H, which runs in a suitably-recessed strip, S, on the front face of the window-jamb, substantially as set forth, and for the purpose described.

4. The combination of a flexible blind com-- posed of slats, and which is adapted to be raised and lowered at its top, the hanging hooks b b, the lower ends of which are pivoted to the under face of the bar F, and which'extend forward and curve upward around the front edge of the bar F, and thence back over the upper face of the bar, where it terminates in eyes 6 e, the cords a a, and counterbalanceweight H, substantially as described. 

